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Researchers took a group of teenagers who had never smoked [#permalink]
08 Apr 2005, 14:01

3

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A

B

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D

E

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25% (medium)

Question Stats:

79%(02:36) correct
21%(02:13) wrong based on 100 sessions

Researchers took a group of teenagers who had never smoked and for one year tracked whether they took up smoking and how their mental health changed. Those who began smoking within a month of the studyâ€™s start were four times as likely to be depressed at the studyâ€™s end than those who did not begin smoking. Since nicotine in cigarettes changes brain chemistry, perhaps thereby affecting mood, it is likely that smoking contributes to depression in teenagers. Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument? A. Participants who were depressed at the studyâ€™s start were no more likely to be smokers at the studyâ€™s end than those who were not depressed. B. Participants who began smoking within a month of the studyâ€™s start were no more likely than those who began midway through to have quit smoking by the studyâ€™s end. C. Few, if any, of the participants in the study were friends or relatives of other participants. D. Some participants entered and emerged from a period of depression within the year of the study. E. The researchers did not track use of alcohol by the teenagers.

Re: Researchers took a group of teenagers who had never smoked [#permalink]
09 Apr 2005, 07:41

I may be way off on this but I will go with 'B'

Conclusion: Smoking contributes to depression in teenagers.

A. Participants who were depressed at the studyâ€™s start were no more likely to be smokers at the studyâ€™s end than those who were not depressed.
This does not attack the conlcusion.

B. Participants who began smoking within a month of the studyâ€™s start were no more likely than those who began midway through to have quit smoking by the studyâ€™s end.
This is it, this fixes a potential flaw in the conclusion - which is - Smoking did not contribute to depression in teenagers but Quitting contributed to depression.
If people who started to smoke at the beginning were to quit at the end of it, quitting could be the reason why they are depressed.

C. Few, if any, of the participants in the study were friends or relatives of other participants.
Irrelevant.

D. Some participants entered and emerged from a period of depression within the year of the study.
Same as A

E. The researchers did not track use of alcohol by the teenagers.
Irrelevant

Re: Researchers took a group of teenagers who had never smoked [#permalink]
26 Mar 2010, 15:39

rthothad wrote:

I may be way off on this but I will go with 'B'

Conclusion: Smoking contributes to depression in teenagers.

A. Participants who were depressed at the studyâ€™s start were no more likely to be smokers at the studyâ€™s end than those who were not depressed. This does not attack the conlcusion.

B. Participants who began smoking within a month of the studyâ€™s start were no more likely than those who began midway through to have quit smoking by the studyâ€™s end. This is it, this fixes a potential flaw in the conclusion - which is - Smoking did not contribute to depression in teenagers but Quitting contributed to depression.If people who started to smoke at the beginning were to quit at the end of it, quitting could be the reason why they are depressed.

C. Few, if any, of the participants in the study were friends or relatives of other participants. Irrelevant.

D. Some participants entered and emerged from a period of depression within the year of the study. Same as A

E. The researchers did not track use of alcohol by the teenagers.Irrelevant

i think the answer is A and here's my reason

A. if the smokers are those who were already depressed at the start of the experiment, then we could assume that those depressed people's own characters are more likely to cause the smoking tendency rather than nicotine does. so if we could eliminate the this possibility and make sure that depressed people were no more likely to become smokers than those who were not depressed, then it most strengthens the argument.

B. the argument is not relevant to the midway quitters. also, we couldnt see this kind of flaw in the argument that quitting contributes to smoking. its very clearly written in the argument that Smoking itself contributes to smoking bcuz nicotine changes brain chemistry. _________________

Option A -> Depression (in teenagers) does not causes Smoking. Y doesn't causes X. i.e It strengthens the conclusion by implying that The reverse causation is not possible. This is also one way to support/strengthen the conclusion.

Re: Researchers took a group of teenagers who had never smoked [#permalink]
28 Jul 2014, 04:19

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